Uncommon Mercy: Claremore Attorney Jack Gordon Is Guilty of Loving Society S Least Lovable

November 4, 2009 Uncommon mercy: Claremore attorney Jack Gordon is guilty of loving society’s least lovable By Joy Hampton http://claremoreprogress.com/ http://claremoreprogress.com/ November 4, 2009 — (Editor’s Note: This is the first in a four-part series on Claremore attorney Jack Gordon, Jr.)

Murderers, thieves, rapists. They are the lowest of the low, the bottom of the social food chain. When they are arrested and brought to trial, most of us breathe a sigh of relief. Some might even cheer. But accusation is not fact.

In this nation, an accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Those who stand up for the accused, the criminal trial attorneys, are not always the most popular figures in a community.

When a trial attorney also defends death penalty cases where the guilt of the accused seems clear, that road is even tougher to walk, the stance even less popular.

Jack Gordon, Jr. knows this and accepts it. Has been accepting it for a long, long time.

“I’m probably not well-liked in the community,” said Gordon. “I think I’m respected. I won’t back down from anybody. It’s a very lonesome job.”

Respected indeed.

Gordon’s peers have tagged him as one of The Best Lawyers in America, from 2002 through 2010. He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1999. Only the top 1 percent of attorneys are considered for inclusion in that society and only four criminal defense lawyers are currently included.

In 2003, he was presented with the Lord Erskine Award from the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association for his leadership of the Criminal Defense Bar.

Recognition aside, it is memorabilia from cases which Gordon treasures most. A sketch of the Gary Allen Walker trial and a thank you card from Walker top the list. A framed tie from a client Gordon proved innocent. Gordon always insists clients dress nicely in shirt and tie.

For Gordon, being a criminal defense attorney is more than a job. He sees his vocation as a calling to protect those whom society most despises. He loves his clients with a depth of compassion most of us can never, will never understand. Not because he believes all of them are innocent of their crimes, but because they are human beings.

“Some people are terribly dangerous,” said Gordon. “Confine them but don’t kill them.”

Asked why he opposes the death penalty, Gordon’s response is simple. “My faith,” he said. “I’m an Episcopalian.”

Though his view on the death penalty is unpopular in this neck of the woods, Gordon does not hold back his opinion.

“It’s barbaric,” said Gordon. “We’re the only country in the Western world that has the death penalty. It’s not punishment. It’s revenge.”

Gordon said the financial toll of trying and executing a death penalty case and sentence are much greater than keeping those same people incarcerated for life. Ethics also come into play.

“What if we made a mistake?” said Gordon.

Gordon laughs at those who call him a liberal. He is a product of Rogers County.

“I was born and reared here,” said Gordon. “I was gone for college, law school, and the Army.”

Shortly after being accepted into University of Arkansas law school, Gordon received his draft notification.

“It was ironic because my dad was the chairman of the draft board in Rogers County,” said Gordon.

It was 1966. He had graduated college and was working as a counselor at a boys camp that summer.

“I took the summer off to get myself pulled together,” he said.

He could go to law school and take Advanced ROTC. He would come out as an officer and then go to the Army.

“I love the military. The Army let me finish law school and pass the bar before I had to go on active duty,” said Gordon.

As an officer, he was allowed to pick from a variety of duty stations. He selected Hawaii where he served in the Intelligence Corps.

“I was with a bunch of smart men,” said Gordon. “Our old general liked us pretty damn good.”

It was 1971 and the war in Vietnam was winding down.

Tears filled Gordon’s eyes as he remembered.

“My roommate was killed in Vietnam,” he said. “My fraternity brother was killed. They were good men.”

In April of 1972, Gordon started practicing law in Claremore.

“I started in practice with my daddy,” he said. “It was pretty natural from the standpoint that my dad was a lawyer. I’d been involved with law all my life though I considered being a teacher at one time. The law was always there.”

In practice with his father, Gordon initially spent most of his time examining titles. Local attorneys of that time were occasionally appointed to defend indigent people charged with a criminal offense. Most considered it their civic duty to take a turn at those cases.

Gordon didn’t have a lot of trial experience in the beginning, but he did have the example his father had set.

“My dad was a general practitioner,” said Gordon. “He could do more things. He epitomized the ‘vanishing country lawyer.’ He was real good.”

From time to time, Gordon would be appointed to represent an indigent defendant and slowly, his trial experience grew.

Thus is was that Jack Gordon, Jr. in 1975 took a criminal appointment to defend his first murder case. The person charged was a woman, Zoella Mae Dorland.

To be continued....